TIRZ backs Toot'n Totum tax rebates

Plans for the site of the downtown Toot’n Totum store to meet urban design standards moved forward Thursday when the company received preliminary approval for nearly $500,000 in tax rebates to help complete streetscape projects around the store.

The Amarillo Center City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 1 board of directors voted unanimously to recommend the city offer a 90 percent property tax rebate for 20 years to Jamal Enterprises LP, a partnership of Toot’n Totum owner Greg Mitchell’s sons that owns the facility and will lease the property to Toot’n Totum.

That rebate would total $494,194 for the 20-year term, City Planning Director Kelley Shaw said.

Mitchell said the company needed the help because it is spending more than $500,000 extra on construction to comply with downtown design standards. Those additional projects include installing light poles, trees, brick exterior and a brick wall with decorative iron fencing surrounding the perimeter of the property, Mitchell said.

“This just can’t be a good store to make money and make a profit,” he said. “It’s got to be a tremendous store, and there is a lot of risk in that for us.”

The property will include a 4,528-square-foot convenience store with a 6,222-square-foot fuel island and 16 fueling stations at 950 S. Buchanan St., according to the company’s tax increment financing assistance application. The store is scheduled to open in May and will be the same size as the Toot’n Totum store at Interstate 40 and South Georgia Street, as well as the store that opened Wednesday south of Interstate 40 on South Washington Street, Mitchell said.

Company spokeswoman Melinda Batchelor declined to disclose the total cost of the project, citing company policy. A city of Amarillo building permit report lists the project’s construction value at $488,000. Southwest General Contractors is leading the project.

The board approved the request for the tax rebate with an amendment to add curb extensions on the northeast and southeast corners of the property.

Mitchell said he was unsure how the board would vote on the rebate, but he is pleased the measure passed unanimously because it would give the company money it needs to complete streetscape projects.

“The fact that they agreed with us gives us some comfort that we’re doing the right thing,” he said.

Board Chairman Richard Brown said it was important to get the measure approved because it would complete streetscape projects on a full city block, similar to the Potter County Courthouse renovation.

“When you tear up something and it’s under construction, it’s a lot easier to add things than to come back later and, more or less, doubling the cost,” Brown said. “It’s cheaper for everyone to get it done at this point.”

Shaw said the TIRZ board gave similar rebates to projects such as the Barfield Building, the Courtyard by Marriott at the Historic Fisk building and the Double R Lofts.

Brown said the downtown convenience store is a key project in the downtown revitalization process because it provides services to attract residents to live downtown.

“It’s the chicken and the egg problem with services and residents,” he said. “There aren’t enough residents to justify it, but without Toot’n Totum there aren’t enough services to justify the residents.”

The recommendation will now go to the Potter County Commission for review and then the Amarillo City Commission for approval, Brown said.